How two cartoon animals inspired a burnout aficionado

John Dodd christened Maryborough Speedway's newly-upgraded burnout pad for the Chronicle's cameras, and will be one of many to compete at the new pad tomorrow. But the story behind Dodd's journey to the first round of the Bob Jane T-Mart Burnout Masters started decades ago on the small screen.

An episode of Motormouse and Autocat:
An episode of Motormouse and Autocat.

The Banana Splits were four costumed, fictional animals, in a show that originally aired from late 1968 to 1970. The Cattanooga Cats soon hit the airwaves, borne out of the Splits' success, and followed Motormouse and Autocat as they tore across the country.

"They were always doing burnouts and chasing after each other, a bit like the Road Runner and the Coyote but in cars, and I was always fascinated by that," he said.

He said the increase in drivers could be due to the growing number of facilities.

"It's huge, there's heaps of people out there building burnout cars," Dodd said.

"It's very, very popular. So many people love doing them and are concerned about doing them on the streets. The availability of local pads - Bundy has one, we've got one, and there's a lot being built around the place for people interested."